Clothes retainer



Dec. 11, 1951 PETERS 2,578,148

CLOTHES RETAINER Filed March 2, 1949 2 SHEETS'-SHEET 1 1951 L. PETERS 2,578,143

CLOTHES RETAINER Filed Marc zh 2. 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 p% :..i a... 6 I 4 I r A or R g N V EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLQ'IHES RETAINER Leo-Peters, Evanston,. 111.

Application March 2, 1949, Serial No. 79,223

This invention relates t'o a clothes retainer, and

more particularly to a clothes retainer casing or clamping structure adapted to beseoured to the exterior of a building panel. or door. structure is applicable to other uses.

There has long been a need for a clothes or garment retainer device which could be secured:

to the outside of the building ordoorso that garments could be secured within the casing. against removal except to an authorized person, the casing being also accessible preferably from the. interior of the door or panel. Often the housewife is away and the dry cleaner pick-up man, etc'., is unable to obtain. the clothes to. be dry" cleaned. etc., or: often the housewife is compelled to re' main at home in order to make such delivery. Similarly, the delivery man often finds no one at home. and must take the clothes-back to the plant or must entrust some neighbor with the garments, etc.

An object of the present invention is to pro vide relatively inexpensive structure which may be readily attached to a door or building panel and which is efiective for clamping garments against release except by the housewife or anauthorized person provided with a keyor'knowledge of the combination, if a combination lock is employed, etc. A still further object is to pro-- vide simple means whereby garments are suspended high upon a building panel" or door and r tainer case secured to the exterior" of a; door" and embodying lily-invention; Fig; 2, a viewsimi'lar to Fig. 1. but showingthe closure. moved to open position; Fig. 3, a transverse sectional view, the

section being taken as indicated at line 3--3 of" Fig; 1; Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view, the section being. taken as indicated at line 4'4' of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a broken vertical sectional view, the section. being taken. as indicated. at. line 5'--5 of Fig. 1;. Fig. 6., a broken.transyersesectionaliView showing a modified form. of the invention; and;

The

7- Claims; (CL. 211-4) teeth 2].

2 Fig. 7, a perspective view of the latching structure shown in Fig; 6.

In the illustration given in Figs. 1' to 5 inclu si've, Ill designates a case which is secured to adoor panel H. The" case [0* may be of any suitable construction. In the illustration given, the case provides a rear wall 12 having openings l3 to receivescrews for securing the case to the door II. The case also has side walls M and upwardly-inclined walls 15 merging into walls [6 forming a hook compartment. A hook or bar ll extends into the compartment formed by the" walls 16 and is adapted to receive-a coat hanger i8 upon which garments [9 are supported: When the garments are delivered, they are usually covered with paper sacks, etc., for protecting them against dust,. etc, and it will be understood that any suitable protective covering'may'be em.-

ployed.

I. provide a closure 20 having. a front wall corresponding. to the cross-sectional shape of the compartment formed by walls l4, l5 and I6 and; pivotally connected at 2| to the. top portion of.

- the wall I6, as shownmoreclearly in Figs. 1 and.

4. With this structure, the closure Z imayswing into clamping position. asillustrated more clear ly in Fig; 4.

In order to increase. the. effectiveness of. the: clamping structure, I providev the back wall. 12-. at its lower end with a rolled edge'22 receiving a reinforcing rod' 23. Similarly, the closure 2&- is" provided at its lower end with a rolled edge 24 receiving; a rod 25".- To one end. of. the rod 25 I secure. a latch. bar. 26 provided with ratchet; teeth 2?, as shown more clearly in Fig. 52.; The; other end of the rod. 25. is. preferably provided with a beveled end 28, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3', and the-beveled end is adapted to engage I ratchet teeth 29 formed in the side wall I4 of the case Ill.

Any suitable meansfor' releasably gripping the latch bar 25 may be provided. In the illustra ti'on given and as'sh'own best in Fig. 5; I- provide anelongated bolt ail-having an outer cam surface" 3'! and a latching edge 32ad'apted to engage the To slidably guide the bolt ;.1 provide a pin 33 which extends through an e'longated slot 34 in the bolt 30. A second pin 35" extends through an elongated slot 36 in the bolt, and a compression spring 3? extends between the pin 35, which is. secured tov the rear. wall 12 of case. ill. and the forward wall. of. the bolt" as to urge the bolt normally toward; the. latch. 26;.

I provide two separate means for releasing the bolt 30. A key-controlled lock barrel 38 is provided with an eccentric pin 39 received within a slot 40 of the bolt 30. Upon unlocking the barrel 38 and rotating it, the pin engages the upper wall of the slot 40 so as to lift the bolt 33 out of engagement with latch 26. Instead of a keycontrolled barrel, it will be understood that a combination lock or other means for insuring against release of the bolt by an unauthorized person may be employed. It will also be understood that while I show the locking mechanism on the outside of the door, it may also be on the inside and thus eliminate the use of a latch string.

A second means for releasing the bolt from engagement with the latch bar 26 consists of a draw member or cord 4| secured to the upper end of the bolt and extending through a pipe 42 to the upper end of the door II, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5. The cord or wire 4i extends over the top of the dOOr and is provided with a ring 43 which may be grasped from the inside of the door for releasing the look. It will be understood that any suitable tie or draw member may be used. If desired, the top of the door may be slightly grooved to receive the draw member ii, If the case [9 should be secured to the door at the top portion thereof, the protecting pipe 42 will be unnecessary and may be omitted.

The lock 38 and the bolt 38 are preferably housed in a separate casing M- which extends above the side wall 14 in line with the latch bar 26.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and '7, I equip the casing wall W on one side with a recess for receiving a latch bar 45 and with a laterallyextending casing 46 communicating therewith. The laterally-extending casing receives a bar 67 integral with the latch bar 45 and is provided at its top with a recess 48 adapted to receive a bolt 49. The casing 46 also provides a support for the key-controlled lock barrel The barrel 5% is provided with an eccentric pin 5| for engagement with a pin 52 and carried by the bolt 49 so as to lift the bolt against the force of spring 53 to withdraw the bolt from engagement with the bar 41. A coil spring 54 may be provided between an end flange 55 of the bar 41 and an abutment 56 carried by the casing 45.

The closure 20 is equipped with a bar 5'! having a pointed end engaging the ratchet teeth 58 of the latch bar 45. To facilitate the movement of the latch bar 45, I provide it with an integral pin 59 extending through the side wall M and provided with a head 60.

Operation In the operation of the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, a hanger i8 is placed upon the hook or bar I! within case [8, and the closure 20 is swung to clamping position, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The latch bar 26 ratchets against the spring-urged plunger 36 so as to retain the clamping closure tightly against the garments to prevent their removal. In this manner, the

housewife may secure the garments in a position 25 opposite the latch 26 has a locking edge which engages the ratchet teeth 29 formed in the side wall M of case [0. In the releasing operation, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the latch-equipped end of the closure 20 may be drawn out to the angle illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 3 so as to release the end 28 from engagement with the teeth 29, the play in the hinge or the flexibility of the metal permitting this movement.

When the clothes have been cleaned and are returned by the driver, the clothes hangers are hung upon the hook I! and the closure 20 is again swung to closed position. In the closing operation, the rod end 28 ratchets over teeth 29 of the side wall I4, and at the other end the latch bar 26 ratchets past the locking edge 32 of bolt 30. When'the housewife returns, she may readily release the garments from the clamped position shown by drawing the ring 43 and the draw member 4|. This moves the bolt 39 upwardly to release the latch bar 26 and the case may be then opened as heretofore described. The bolt 30 may be allowed to drop into locking position by gravity or be spring-urged, as desired.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the operation is substantially the same as that already described. In this structure, however, the latch bar 45 is not attached to the closure 2i but is mounted for reciprocation within casing [4. When the closure 2B is pressed inwardly, the pointed end 5? ratchets past the teeth 58 of latch bar 55 to a clamping position and the bar 45 may be moved inwardly toward the pointed end of rod 51 by pressing the pin 59. As the pin 59 is pressed inwardly, the bolt 43 slips into the recess 48 in the bar 47 and thus maintains the latch bar 45 in looking engagement with the point of rod 51.

To release the bar 4'! and the latch bar 45, the driver may insert a key within the lock-controlling barrel 5G and then rotate the barrel 50 to bring the eccentric pin 5| against the pin 52 on the bolt 49, thus freeing the bar 45 and permitting its retraction under the force of spring 54. The closure 20 may be then drawn forwardly to release it, as heretofore described.

In a similar way, the latch bar G9 is released by drawing it upwardly by means of the draw member M which is employed in the same manner as draw member 4| heretofore described.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and '7, it will be noted that the door or building panel l is not apertured and that all of the locking mechanism and other structure, except the draw member M are housed upon the outside of the door or panel.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth illustrative structures in considerable detail for the purpose of showing embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a building panel, a case open at its front and secured to the outside of said panel, a closure mounted on said case for movement to clamping position therein, lock-controlled latch means for maintaining said closure in clamping position until said latch is released, and a draw member extending into the interior of said building also for releasing said latch.

2. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a door, a case open at its frontand secured to the outside of said door, a closure mounted on said case for movement to clamping position therein, lock-controlled latch means for maintaining said closure in clamping position until said latch is withdrawn, and a draw member extending over said door and accessible from the interior side thereof for releasing said latch.

3. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a door, a case open at its front and secured to the top portion of said door, a closure hinged at its top to said case and swingable to clamping position in said case, lock-controlled latch means for securing said closure in clamping position, and a draw member extending to the inside of said door for releasing said latch independently of said lock.

4. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a building panel, a case having an. opening therein for receiving garments, a closure mounted on said case for movement to clamping position therein, and means operable from inside and outside of the panel for releasably locking the sides of said closure in clamping position, said means consisting of cooperating ratchet teeth and locking edge members on said case and closure.

5. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a building panel, a case having an opening I therein for receiving garments, a closure mounted on said case for movement to clamping position therein, means operable from inside and outside of the panel for releasably locking the sides of said closure in clamping position, said means consisting of cooperating ratchet teeth and locking edge members on said case and closure, and lock-controlled means for releasing said latching members.

6. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a door, a case open at a front side and secured to said door, a closure for closing said front side and hinged at its top to said case, said closure being swingable downwardly within said case to a clamping position therein, latch means for locking said closure in said clamping position, and two independent means for releasing said latch, said means consisting of a lock-controlled memoer operable from outside the door for withdrawing said latch and a draw member for moving said latch, said draw member being accessible only from the interior of said door.

7. In a clothes retainer adapted to be secured to a building panel, a case open at its front side and secured to said panel, a closure mounted upon said case for movement therein to clamping position, latching means carried by said case on the exterior of said door for latching said closure in clamping position, lock-controlled means for releasing said latch, and draw means extending to the inside of said door for releasing said latch independently of said lock means.

LEO PETERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,288,286 Teague Dec. 17, 1918 1,714,087 Goldhart May 21, 1929 2,007,854 Grill July 9, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 184,669 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1922 

